Gloria Hunniford: ‘Grandchildren are so positive!’
Gloria Hunniford discusses both the heartaches and the joys of life, 17 years on from her daughter Caron’s tragic death
‘I remember saying I didn’t think I’d be able to laugh again’
It’s been almost 17 years since Gloria Hunniford lost her beloved daughter, Caron, 41, to breast cancer, and casting her mind back to those dark days, she describes it as a black hole she thought she would never climb out of.
Since then, she has taken great comfort in the thousands of letters she received from fans following Caron’s untimely death, and hearing others speak her daughter’s name.
Here Gloria, 80, tells Woman’s Weekly how she’s learnt to live with the heartache and why she doesn’t have any plans to retire.
‘I’ve lost both my parents, my sister and my former husband died, and although it’s very sad and distressing – none of it compares to losing a child,’ she confides. ‘You carry a child for nine months, give birth to them and treasure them. So to lose them no matter what age they are – that’s the worst kind of grief. ‘You don’t ever get over it, but you eventually learn to live in and around that black hole. It’s a well-worn phrase but you have to continue,’ she adds.
The Loose Women favourite reveals her grief was so heavy when Caron first died in 2004 that she couldn’t comprehend anyone else’s – not even her other living children, Michael and Paul.
‘In the beginning I remember saying to the family that I genuinely didn’t think I’d ever be able to laugh again because I had nothing to laugh about,’ she confesses. ‘My youngest son Michael said, “Mum, that is one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard you say because we’re your children as well.”
‘My sons were suffering badly because they loved their sister so much, and his words hit me as such a strong statement. I call it the selfish grief.’
She adds, ‘There was a point where I thought to myself, “I have to get a grip on this because the grief could take you out, it’s that bad.”
‘You rise out of it to a certain extent, and then you slip back down, and it takes a long time to get back to just coping.’
Luckily, Gloria’s longspanning career in television provided a positive distraction, as well as Caron’s children, Charlie and Gabriel, now 25 and 22, and her eldest son Paul’s sons, Jake and Beau, now 24 and 21.
She tells us, ‘Work was a real saviour for me, which sounds odd, but I’ve worked ever since I was seven years old [as a semi-professional singer], and it’s like a safe place for me.
‘Thinking of something else for half an hour to take you away from your thoughts is really worthwhile, whether it’s helping in a local hospice or looking after your grandchildren.
‘Your children’s children are normally so positive, and that really helps you in a sense,’ she adds.
And the TV star shows zero signs of slowing down – not even the pandemic could put the brakes on her busy workload.
She enthuses, ‘I just want to keep on going. I’ve worked throughout lockdown because we filmed from the garden at home for Rip Off Britain. I’ve managed to combine work
and home all this time.
‘I love it, and if you didn’t love it – you wouldn’t do it. There’s no fun standing out in the cold or rain when filming, but I meet someone and learn something new every day and I find it stimulating.
‘I think the more you keep your mind occupied the better.’
Gloria turned 80 last year, something that may surprise many. She credits her youthful appearance to a clean-living lifestyle, explaining, ‘I’m a bit of a vitamin freak and I don’t smoke. I smoked five Woodbine when I was 13 – I was sick as a dog and never touched cigarettes again.
‘I do like a drink, but I’m not a drinker per se,’ she finishes with a laugh. ‘I’d rather a cup of tea!’
✣ Gloria has collaborated with Rankin and Royal London on a grief exhibition, which is free to view at lostforwords.royallondon.com